If you’ve ever wondered what happens when a man with a vocabulary smaller than his ego tries to wax poetic about America’s pastime, look no further than Donald Trump’s latest word salad. It’s not that his speech lacked words — there were plenty of them.
During the Los Angeles Dodgers’ recent visit to the White House, where they were being honored for their World Series victory, the president truly outdid himself. It was supposed to be a classic White House tradition. A winning team gets invited, the president delivers a speech dripping in praise, and everyone goes home with a smile and maybe a souvenir baseball. But Trump turned his 15-minute address into an incoherent maze of half-thoughts.
WHAT IS HE SAYING OMFG pic.twitter.com/NiDChMJyPq
— Morgan (@mmorgang_) April 7, 2025
He started commending the Dodgers for their resilience in overcoming injuries to key players. But then came his attempt to discuss pitching. “When you ran out the healthy arms, you ran out of really healthy — they had great arms but they ran out,” Trump stammered. “It’s called sports. It’s called baseball in particular and pitchers I guess you could say, really particular…”
Um…what?
In one fell swoop, Trump managed to confuse not only the audience in the room but also baseball fans, linguists, and possibly even sports historians. The video of this moment has since gone viral, with commenters on X delivering a collective “WTF.” Some called it “word salad,” others labeled it “brain vomiting,” and one particularly astute observer noted, “Mind you, he’s reading off a paper too.”
Trump’s limited lexicon has become legendary among linguists. Why use precise terminology when you can describe everything from healthcare policy to nuclear treaties as “beautiful” or “nasty”? Why articulate specific plans when you can simply promise they’ll be “incredible”? The concerns about the president’s cognitive abilities have simmered for years. There was the time he appeared to wave at empty space, the bizarre claims about Revolutionary War soldiers seizing airports, and the unforgettable moment when he suggested injecting disinfectant might combat COVID-19.
His peculiar fixations have included electric boats, sharks (which he reportedly “hopes all die”), and random tangents about bacon. Despite all this, Trump still insists on touting his intellectual prowess. The answer might lie in what I like to call the Genius Paradox. Trump’s ego demands that he present himself as the smartest person in the room. Confidence without competence is dangerous — and right now, we’re watching it play out in real time as Trump crashes the global economy while pretending to know it all.
Published: Apr 8, 2025 02:37 pm